Jessie Keith
Family
Asteraceae
Botanical Name
Senecio
Plant Common Name
Senecio
General Description
The enormous and enormously complex genus, Senecio, features many morphologically diverse and dissimilar species that are bound by a suite of shared floral features. Its species exist on practically all continents and inhabit many growing environments from watersides and forest understories to sunny meadows and deserts. They may be annuals or perennials and some are shrubby and woody or even tree-like. Generic common names for senecios include ragwort and groundsel.
Senecio typically have yellow, daisy flowers that are often small. The flowers are insect pollinated and favored by both bees and butterflies. The airborne fruits that follow pollination are small and topped with fluffy tufts of white pappus. Many Senecio are also larval food for diverse lepidopteran species.
Culture is widely dissimilar from species to species, so no generalizations can be made. Many ornamentally desirable Senecio are cactus-like and favored for trough and desert gardens while others have attractive foliage and are favored in flower gardens and container plantings.
